LAS VEGAS — Four South Dakota State wrestlers advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, including Tanner Cook and A.J. Nevills who knocked off No. 1 seeds, during the opening day competition Friday at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Eight of the 10 SDSU wrestlers entered in the premier early season tournament in college wrestling remain in contention for a Jackrabbit squad that stands second in the team race. North Carolina State sits atop the team leaderboard with 84 points, followed by the Jackrabbits with 83 points and Nebraska with 80.5.
A junior from Ilion, New York, Cook wasted little time in posting a 3-0 record with three pins on the day in the 165-pound division. The No. 9 seed, he totaled only 2 minutes and 13 seconds of mat time during his three matches, the last of which resulted in a 37-second pin over top-seeded and sixth-ranked Carson Kharchla of Ohio State.
Cook is scheduled to face fourth-seeded Austin Yant of Northern Iowa in semifinal action.
Nevills, seeded eighth at heavyweight, further sent shockwaves through the Las Vegas Convention Center and beyond by knocking off top-seeded and top-ranked Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State, 5-2, in quarterfinal action Friday night. Nevills led 3-0 through two periods and sealed the victory with his second takedown of the match in the final 20 seconds.
With his three wins on the day, Nevills improved to 6-0 on the season and will square off against Northwestern’s Lucas Davison in Saturday morning’s semifinal.
Also advancing to the semifinals with 3-0 records during Friday competition were 125-pounder Tanner Jordan and 141-pounder Clay Carlson. Jordan was one of four Jackrabbits to win by fall in the opening round, pinning Jacob Moon of Hofstra early in the second period. Jordan advanced to the quarters after top seed Michael DeAugustino withdrew from the tournament after suffering an injury early in their matchup and then outlasted eight-seeded Caleb Smith of Appalachian State, with an 8-6 sudden victory.
He is slated to meet fifth-seeded Richard Figueroa of Arizona State in semifinal competition.
The defending tournament champion at 141 pounds, Carlson pinned each of his first two opponents before pulling out a 3-1 victory with a late takedown of Vince Cornella of Cornell during Friday’s evening session. The second-seeded Carlson is scheduled to face Cael Happel of Northern Iowa in semifinal action, marking a rematch of the Daktronics Open championship match two weeks ago in which Happel scored a 6-4 upset of Carlson.
While Jackrabbit wrestlers knocked off two No. 1 seeds on Friday, SDSU’s lone top seed, 197-pounder Tanner Sloan, also suffered a setback in quarterfinal action. Sloan won his first two matches by fall and decision, respectively, to set up a matchup against ninth-seeded Andy Smith of Virginia Tech. Sloan tied the match at 1-all with an escape early in the third period, but Smith recorded a pair of takedowns in the final minute to pull out the 5-2 victory.
Sloan came back later in the session with an 8-0 major decision over Cody Mulligan of Edinboro to move into Saturday’s placing matches.
Also staying in contention for the Jackrabbits were 157-pounder Cael Swensen, 174-pounder Cade DeVos and 184-pounder Cade King. Swensen recorded a 3-1 decision over sixth-seeded Derek Holschlag of Northern Iowa in the Round of 16 and added a 6-4 sudden-victory decision over No. 8 seed Luka Wick of Cal Poly.
King, meanwhile, extended his tournament run into Saturday with a 5-3 decision over eighth-seeded Anthony Montalvo of Arizona State.
DeVos also stayed alive with an overtime decision, edging Michigan’s Joseph Walker, 3-1, in his last consolation match of the night.
In all, Jackrabbit wrestlers combined for a 29-8 record on Friday with eight pins.
Brackets on arena.flowrestling.org
UP NEXT
The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational concludes Saturday. Action is set to begin at 11 a.m. Central Time (9 a.m. Pacific).
SDSU RESULTS
125 – Tanner Jordan, Jr., St. Paris, Ohio (3-0 record)
def. Jacob Moon, Hofstra, by fall 3:43
def. #1 Michael DeAugstino, Northwestern, by injury default 3:36
dec. #8 Caleb Smith, Appalachian State, 8-6 [SV-1]
Semifinal – vs. #5 Richard Figueroa, Arizona State
133 – Derrick Cardinal, R-Fr., Forest Lake, Minnesota (1-2 record)
lost to #3 Vito Arujau, Cornell, by dec., 8-1
dec. Ethan Rotondo, Cal Poly, by dec., 8-6 [SV-1]
lost to Kurtis Phipps, Bucknell, by dec., 8-2
Cardinal eliminated
141 – #2 Clay Carlson, Sr., Willmar, Minnesota (3-0 record)
def. Jordan Carlucci, Sacred Heart, by fall 4:27
def. Joshua Koderhandt, Navy, by fall 6:12
dec. #7 Vince Cornella, Cornell, 3-1
Semifinal – vs. #11 Cael Happel, Northern Iowa
149 – Alek Martin, R-Fr., St. Paris, Ohio (3-2 record)
dec. Ethan Willis, The Citadel, 4-3
lost to #3 Kyle Parco, Arizona State, by dec., 9-4
tech. fall Greyson Harris, Hofstra, 19-1 [4:25]
dec. Kolby DePron, Bucknell, 7-6
lost to #8 Alec Hagan, Ohio, by dec., 6-5
Martin eliminated
157: Cael Swensen, R-Fr., Plymouth, Minnesota (3-1 record)
dec. Trevor Elfvin, Clarion, 10-5
dec. #6 Derek Holschlag, Northern Iowa, 3-1
lost to #3 Ed Scott, North Carolina State, by dec., 4-0
dec. #8 Luka Wick, Cal Poly, 6-4 [SV-1]
Consolation Round of 4 – vs. Cesar Alvan, Columbia
165: #9 Tanner Cook, Jr., Ilion, New York (3-0 record)
def. Cameron Pine, Clarion, by fall 0:41
def. Giano Petrucelli, Air Force, by fall 0:55
def. #1 Carson Kharchla, Ohio State, by fall 0:37
Semifinal – vs. #4 Austin Yant, Northern Iowa
174 – #8 Cade DeVos, Jr., Altoona, Iowa (3-1 record)
dec. Alexander Faison, North Carolina State, 8-6
dec. #9 Troy Fisher, Northwestern, 7-5
lost to #1 Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech, by fall 1:51
dec. #11 Joseph Walker, Michigan, 3-1 [SV-1]
Consolation Round of 4 – vs. Alexander Faison, North Carolina State
184 – #11 Cade King, Jr., Waseca, Minn. (4-1 record)
major dec. Hunter Perez, Sacred Heart, 13-5
lost to #6 Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech, by dec., 8-2
major dec. Jack Jessen, Northwestern, 16-2
dec. #13 David Key, Navy, 9-4
dec. #8 Anthony Montalvo, Arizona State, 5-3
Consolation Round of 4 – vs. #4 Trey Munoz, Oregon State
197 – #1 Tanner Sloan, Jr., Alburnett, Iowa (3-1 record)
def. Hayden Filipovich, Purdue, by fall 0:51
dec. Tyler Bagoly, Clarion, 4-1
lost to #9 Andy Smith, Virginia Tech, by dec., 5-2
major dec. Cody Mulligan, Edinboro, 8-0
Consolation Round of 4 – vs. #4 Kordell Norfleet, Arizona State
285: #8 A.J. Nevills, Grad., Clovis, Calif. (3-0 record)
def. Austin Chapman, Clarion, by fall 6:55
dec. #9 Grady Griess, Navy, 8-6
dec. #1 Cohlton Schultz, Arizona State, 5-2
Semifinal – vs. #5 Lucas Davison, Northwestern
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